Solidarity Economy : From Local Initiatives to International Networks a Movement for Social and Ecological Justice

The dual focus – both political and economic – of the solidarity economy approach underlines the need for associative, cooperative and mutualist initiatives to influence institutional arrangements. The social economy has not been able to counter the institutional isomorphism created by the division and complementarity between market and welfare state. The social enterprise approach is also insufficient because it is too centered on the economic success of organizations and has put the political to one side. Indeed, as a reaction to the perverse effects of this focus on the economic, initiatives that aim to be both citizen-oriented and entrepreneurial have reinforced the political aspects of their activities. But this will have a limited effect if these initiatives are unable to promote democracy in both their internal functioning and their external expression. Beyond looking inwards their own organization, they must also reflect on the reasons why they find it so hard to scale up. Through its dual focus, the solidarity economy questions the categories of economics at both conceptual and empirical levels, refusing to limit economic phenomena to those that are defined as such by economic orthodoxy. It also questions orthodox economic science's power to delimit reality, fostering more general reflection on how the economy is defined and instituted. By raising the question of the aim of economic activities, the solidarity economy has brought notions of social utility and collective interest to the public’s attention.